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Ransomware is a significant security threat that poses a serious risk to the security of smartphones, and its impact on portable devices has been extensively discussed in a number of research papers. In recent times, this threat has witnessed a significant increase, causing substantial losses for both individuals and organizations. The emergence and widespread occurrence of diverse forms of ransomware present a significant impediment to the pursuit of reliable security measures that can effectively combat them. This constitutes a formidable challenge due to the dynamic nature of ransomware, which renders traditional security protocols inadequate, as they might have a high false alarm rate and exert significant processing demands on mobile devices that are restricted by limited battery life, CPU, and memory. This paper proposes a novel intelligent method for detecting ransomware that is based on a hybrid multi-solution binary JAYA algorithm with a single-solution simulated annealing (SA). The primary objective is to leverage the exploitation power of SA in supporting the exploration power of the binary JAYA algorithm. This approach results in a better balance between global and local search milestones. The empirical results of our research demonstrate the superiority of the proposed SMO-BJAYA-SA-SVM method over other algorithms based on the evaluation measures used. The proposed method achieved an accuracy rate of 98.7%, a precision of 98.6%, a recall of 98.7%, and an F1 score of 98.6%. Therefore, we believe that our approach is an effective method for detecting ransomware on portable devices. It has the potential to provide a more reliable and efficient solution to this growing security threat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A neural network was developed using the Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) model to predict the darkness value of the night sky in rural areas. For data collection, a photometer was placed in three different rural locations in the province of Cáceres, Spain, recording darkness values over a period of 23 months. The recorded data were processed, debugged, and used as a training set (75%) and validation set (25%) in the development of an MLP capable of predicting the darkness level for a given date. The network had a single hidden layer of 10 neurons and hyperbolic activation function, obtaining a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.85 and a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 6.8%. The developed model could be employed in unpopulated rural areas for the promotion of sustainable astronomical tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unplanned and rapid expansion of metropolitan areas reduces accessibility to existing and often outdated centralized water and wastewater systems. In this context, sanitation policies that focus exclusively on centralized systems become expensive and unfeasible. Using Q methodology, we identified three different social perspectives on onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) in the metropolitan area of the Lerma Valley in northern Argentina. We focused our analysis on the legal, environmental, and technical aspects of onsite sanitation. The perspectives found were: 'OWTS have advantages', 'Hard path for sewerage', and 'Process before technology'. We describe the perspectives identified and we provide an analysis of their differences and similarities to discuss their possible policy implications for our study area and comparable regions in the country and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The archipelagos of Macaronesia (Canary Islands, Azores, Madeira and Cape Verde) have isolated energy systems (IES). This makes the island systems dependent on themselves for energy production. In the case of an island like Gran Canaria, energy production is mainly obtained from: a) Wind and solar energy, 19 % of the total energy produced, b) Energy obtained from the burning of fossil fuels in the energy production equipment of the existing power plants. Thermal power plants, 81 % of the total energy produced. It is necessary to find a solution to the current production system, which is already partially obsolete and must be renewed and/or dismantled, in order to avoid "Zero Energy", which implies a change in the production cycle. In addition, the incorporation of the "Chira-Soria" pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant into the Gran Canaria electricity system represents another, even more important, change in the dynamics followed up to now. Basically, this plant, hydraulically stabilized by means of a seawater desalination plant, incorporates energy storage by storing water at high altitude to be turbined under the right conditions. The new situation with this incorporation will be analysed and the option of integrated operation in the overall energy system of Gran Canaria will be assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When necessary, sea turtles are held captive for veterinarian care and research purposes. Protocols and basic guidelines have been described for husbandry of sea turtles with veterinarian needs but not considering physiological indicators of animal welfare. Because all sea turtle are imperiled species, monitoring their welfare is important. The aim of this study was to standardize husbandry protocols for loggerhead (Caretta caretta) juveniles held under seminatural conditions, based on circulating concentration of plasma corticosterone (Cort) and behavior. Two experiments were performed to analyze physiological and behavioral responses of the animals facing changes in stocking density and different dry-docking times. Cort analyses suggested that the number of animals per tank can be modified occasionally, without affecting their health and welfare. However, dry-docking time should be < 30 min, as indicated by the significant elevation of circulating Cort at ≥ 30 min, rising from 1.51- ng/ml to 5.28-ng/ml. Protocols tested did not affect behavioral responses, except for the breaths per move, which increased while Cort increased, despite differences exhibited by experimental animals in behavioral responses according to daily times (morning vs afternoon) and the sex of the animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study discusses the importance of minimal residual disease (MRD) detection in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients using liquid biopsy and next-generation sequencing (NGS). AML prognosis is based on various factors, including genetic alterations. NGS has revealed the molecular complexity of AML and helped refine risk stratification and personalized therapies. The long-term survival rates for AML patients are low, and MRD assessment is crucial in predicting prognosis. Currently, the most common methods for MRD detection are flow cytometry and quantitative PCR, but NGS is being incorporated into clinical practice due to its ability to detect genomic aberrations in the majority of AML patients. Typically, bone marrow samples are used for MRD assessment, but using peripheral blood samples or liquid biopsies would be less invasive. Leukemia originates in the bone marrow, along with the cfDNA obtained from peripheral blood. This study aimed to assess the utility of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from peripheral blood samples for MRD detection in AML patients. A cohort of 20 AML patients was analyzed using NGS, and a correlation between MRD assessment by cfDNA and circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in paired samples was observed. Furthermore, a higher tumor signal was detected in cfDNA compared to CTCs, indicating greater sensitivity. Challenges for the application of liquid biopsy in MRD assessment were discussed, including the selection of appropriate markers and the sensitivity of certain markers. This study emphasizes the potential of liquid biopsy using cfDNA for MRD detection in AML patients and highlights the need for further research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advances in Deep Learning and aerial Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) have offered the possibility of refining the classification and segmentation of 3D point clouds to contribute to the monitoring of complex environments. In this context, the present study focuses on developing an ordinal classification model in forest areas where LiDAR point clouds can be classified into four distinct ordinal classes: ground, low vegetation, medium vegetation, and high vegetation. To do so, an effective soft labeling technique based on a novel proposed generalized exponential function (CE-GE) is applied to the PointNet network architecture. Statistical analyses based on Kolmogorov–Smirnov and Student's t-test reveal that the CE-GE method achieves the best results for all the evaluation metrics compared to other methodologies. Regarding the confusion matrices of the best alternative conceived and the standard categorical cross-entropy method, the smoothed ordinal classification obtains a more consistent classification compared to the nominal approach. Thus, the proposed methodology significantly improves the point-by-point classification of PointNet, reducing the errors in distinguishing between the middle classes (low vegetation and medium vegetation). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing the impact of climate change is essential for developing water resource management plans, especially in areas facing severe issues regarding ecosystem service degradation. This study assessed the effects of climate change on the hydrological balance using the SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) hydrological model in the Mixteco River Basin (MRB), Oaxaca, Mexico. Temperature and precipitation were predicted with the projections of global climate models (GCMs) from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6); the bias was corrected using CMhyd software, and then the best performing GCM was selected for use in the SWAT model. According to the GCM MPI-ESM1-2-LR, precipitation might decrease by between 83.71 mm and 225.83 mm, while temperature might increase by between 2.57 °C and 4.77 °C, causing a greater atmospheric evaporation demand that might modify the hydrological balance of the MRB. Water yield might decrease by 47.40% and 61.01% under the climate scenarios SP245 and SSP585, respectively. Therefore, adaptation and mitigation measures are needed to offset the adverse impact of climate change in the MRB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the rapid development of vaccines against COVID-19, they have important limitations, such as safety issues, the scope of their efficacy, and the induction of mucosal immunity. The present study proposes a potential component for a new generation of vaccines. The recombinant nucleocapsid (N) protein from the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant was combined with the ODN-39M, a synthetic 39 mer unmethylated cytosine-phosphate-guanine oligodeoxynucleotide (CpG ODN), used as an adjuvant. The evaluation of its immunogenicity in Balb/C mice revealed that only administration by intranasal route induced a systemic cross-reactive, cell-mediated immunity (CMI). In turn, this combination was able to induce anti-N IgA in the lungs, which, along with the specific IgG in sera and CMI in the spleen, was cross-reactive against the nucleocapsid protein of SARS-CoV-1. Furthermore, the nasal administration of the N + ODN-39M preparation, combined with RBD Delta protein, enhanced the local and systemic immune response against RBD, with a neutralizing capacity. Results make the N + ODN-39M preparation a suitable component for a future intranasal vaccine with broader functionality against Sarbecoviruses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gran Canaria, due to its status as an island, has an isolated energy system (IES). This has made it dependent on itself for energy production, which is basically obtained from: (a) Wind and solar energy, which equals 19% of the total energy produced, (b) Energy obtained from the burning of fossil fuels in the energy production equipment of the existing thermal power stations, which equals 81% of the total energy produced. A solution must be found to the current production system, which is already partially obsolete and is due for renewal and/or decommissioning, in order to avoid "Energy Zero", which means a change in the production cycle. In addition, the incorporation of a pumped hydroelectric energy storage plant "Chira-Soria" into the Gran Canaria electricity system represents another, even more important, change in the dynamics followed up to now. Basically, this plant, which is hydraulically stabilized by means of a seawater desalination plant, incorporates energy storage by storing water at high altitude to be turbined under appropriate conditions. The new situation will be analyzed with this incorporation and the option of an integrated operation in the overall energy system of Gran Canaria will be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The appearance of complex attention‐based language models such as BERT, RoBERTa or GPT‐3 has allowed to address highly complex tasks in a plethora of scenarios. However, when applied to specific domains, these models encounter considerable difficulties. This is the case of Social Networks such as Twitter, an ever‐changing stream of information written with informal and complex language, where each message requires careful evaluation to be understood even by humans given the important role that context plays. Addressing tasks in this domain through Natural Language Processing involves severe challenges. When powerful state‐of‐the‐art multilingual language models are applied to this scenario, language specific nuances get lost in translation. To face these challenges we present BERTuit, the largest transformer proposed so far for Spanish language, pre‐trained on a massive dataset of 230 M Spanish tweets using RoBERTa optimization. Our motivation is to provide a powerful resource to better understand Spanish Twitter and to be used on applications focused on this social network, with special emphasis on solutions devoted to tackle the spreading of misinformation in this platform. BERTuit is evaluated on several tasks and compared against M‐BERT, XLM‐RoBERTa and XLM‐T, very competitive multilingual transformers. The utility of our approach is shown with applications, in this case: an unsupervised methodology to visualize groups of hoaxes; and supervised profiling of authors spreading disinformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a modelling and numerical simulation proposal has been developed with a free open-source software, Scilab. The learning proposal consists of the simulation of an anaerobic biodigester under continuous and discontinuous loading with an AM2 mathematical model based on two reactions, acidogenesis-acetogenesis, considering a Monod-type growth, and methanogenesis, with a Haldane-type growth. Anaerobic digestion has become a successful process for the stabilisation of wastewater with high organic load. The aim of this proposal is to be used in the practical training activities to be developed by the student in the context of some of the subjects of the University Degrees and Masters with competences in the area of environmental technology. In the simulations, the proposed model has proved to be an effective tool for the simulation of the anaerobic digestion process, it has proved to be an efficient system to reduce the organic load in wastewater and it is versatile as it allows to modify the design, quickly, depending on the future needs of the student or teacher that can be used to understand and learn the proposed objective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This technical report is based on the study for the evaluation of the processes of reuse and recycling of reverse osmosis components and membranes in the Canary Islands and Macaronesia, within the DESAL+ project and in the framework of the DESAL+ LIVING LAB platform, coordinated by the Canary Islands Technological Institute (ITC) and the Canary Islands Agency for Research, Innovation and Information Society (ACIISI), with the support of the Interreg-MAC Programme. Reverse osmosis membranes could be reused in the same or another desalination plant by replacing the membranes in the first, dirtier positions with those in the last, less damaged positions. Also, by changing the best first-stage membranes to the second and vice versa, the useful life of these membranes could be extended through chemical cleaning and a second life could be given in tertiary treatment plants, reuse in industrial processes where they use special reverse osmosis membranes and degrade rapidly, in processes with leachate from landfill waste and also an interesting option is the oxidation of reverse osmosis elements to obtain nanofiltration, ultrafiltration or microfiltration membranes for the removal of physical dirt. The main categories of thermal processing recycling commonly used in industry include incineration and pyrolysis to produce energy, gas and fuel. These processes can be applied to mixed plastic waste, such as the combination of materials used in the manufacture of reverse osmosis membranes. The recycling of reverse osmosis elements from desalination plants is shown as an opportunity, nowadays existing pioneering initiatives in Europe. Energy recovery, via incineration, is feasible but is not considered in accordance with the environmental, social and political problems that this may generate. However, the recycling of the reverse osmosis elements via pyrolytic industry for fuel production can be centralized in a new industry already planned in the Canary Islands and all the osmosis membranes that are obsolete can be sent there. This is a technically and economically viable business opportunity with a promising future in today's recycling market as studied in the technical report. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowing the age of individuals in a population is crucial to devise appropriate conservation strategies, especially on endangered long-lived species such as sea turtles. Sea turtles do not have external morphologic characters that indicate their age; therefore, age has been estimated by indirect methods such as biometric measurements or skeletochronological analysis. Previous skeletochronological studies have determined that sea turtle age can be estimated with skeletal growth marks (GMs) produced by annual seasonality. This study focused on the skeletochronological analysis of known-age loggerheads reared under seminatural conditions, showing that sea turtles kept under natural photoperiod and seawater temperature seasonality and fed periodically, did not present visible GMs. However, the animals suffering health problems affecting their growth did exhibit GMs. This suggests that skeletochronological studies in sea turtles must be taken with caution at least at early life stages and for the northeast Atlantic loggerhead population. Additionally, this study showed that seawater temperature seasonality strongly influences sea turtles' growth rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reference evapotranspiration (ET0) is the first step in calculating crop irrigation demand, and numerous methods have been proposed to estimate this parameter. FAO-56 Penman–Monteith (PM) is the only standard method for defining and calculating ET0. However, it requires radiation, air temperature, atmospheric humidity, and wind speed data, limiting its application in regions where these data are unavailable; therefore, new alternatives are required. This study compared the accuracy of ET0 calculated with the Blaney–Criddle (BC) and Hargreaves–Samani (HS) methods versus PM using information from an automated weather station (AWS) and the NASA-POWER platform (NP) for different periods. The information collected corresponds to Module XII of the Lagunera Region Irrigation District 017, a semi-arid region in the North of Mexico. The HS method underestimated the reference evapotranspiration (ET0) by 5.5% compared to the PM method considering the total ET0 of the study period (26 February to 9 August 2021) and yielded the best fit in the different evaluation periods (daily, 5-day mean, and 5-day cumulative); the latter showed the best values of inferential parameters. The information about maximum and minimum temperatures from the NP platform was suitable for estimating ET0 using the HS equation. This data source is a suitable alternative, particularly in semi-arid regions with limited climatological data from weather stations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several factors affect the visibility of the night sky, most significantly artificial light at night (ALAN), meteorological conditions and Moon illumination. There are few studies that analyse the effect of meteorological conditions and Moon illumination, especially in rural areas (where the ALAN level is lower). An analysis of these variables could be relevant for sky observation, especially for astronomical observatories, usually located in rural areas with low ALAN. Knowledge of the relevant variables in the observation allows for the correct planning of the observation. The observer can consult meteorological agencies for forecasts of these variables, allowing him to know in advance whether the observation will be carried out under optimal conditions. In this study, a photometer and a weather station were installed in various municipalities located in rural areas of south-western Spain. This equipment was also installed in the city of Badajoz (urban area with high ALAN). These devices carried out simultaneous measurements of night sky darkness (NSB) and meteorological conditions for a period of approximately 6 months. A statistical analysis of the recorded data was carried out. Only the Moon illumination was slightly correlated with NSB in both cases (−0.3 in rural areas and −0.35 in urban areas). Sky temperature only proved a correlation with NSB in the urban area (−0.41). The correlations indicated are significant at the 0.01 level. The results obtained in the urban area were confirmed by a second analysis using meteorological data provided by a meteorological agency, obtaining similar results. A web application was developed that allows for real-time consultation of NSB and meteorological data for each area, which can help observe the starry sky. Globally, the results obtained in this study could help in the planning of stargazing in both urban and rural areas, allowing one to know in advance if weather conditions would affect the perception capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, there are concerns about the significant increase in the level of night-time light pollution, which has become more dramatic in recent years. This causes several environmental problems and makes it impossible to observe the starry night sky, especially in rural areas where observatories are often located. Incorrect orientation and arrangement of lighting are often responsible for this pollution. This study quantified the level of interference of lighting parameters in the night sky. The influence of other environmental factors which may interfere with observation was also evaluated. A predictive model was developed to determine the level of darkness in rural areas. It was concluded that the distance from the emission point to the observation site is critical for sky observation. A series of guidelines were proposed for designing the lighting around observatories, which could help reduce light pollution and increase the stars' perception. The conclusions and guidelines obtained could also be applied to designing the lighting in other areas, such as protected natural areas, historical monuments, urban lighting, and computer tools used for lighting. Globally, the results obtained in this study could help to reduce the level of night-time light pollution in rural areas, leading to improvements in the environment and in the observation of the night sky. This finding is of great relevance for astronomical observatories, which are spread around the world in strategic positions for sky observation, usually in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While life expectancy increases in developed countries and there is evidence that demonstrates the potential of the internet to optimise or compensate for the losses associated with ageing, there is a high proportion of older people who continue to be disconnected from the digital world. In this scenario, the technological support offered by public institutions has the potential to be an accessible source for the digital literacy of older people. This study, using the model of digital inequality, had the aim of analysing the ability of these institutional supports to determine and predict the digital inclusion of older people. The sample was retired adults (over 54 years) residing in Spain who are users of technological support services in four organisational contexts: nursing homes, senior community centres, University Programs for Seniors and adult education programmes. Through binary logistic regression analysis, we found that the ability of the availability of literacy support to determine and predict access, autonomy, skills and use of the internet for social connectivity depends on the social and organisational context of the technology support service. These findings support empirically the situated nature of technological support for the digital inclusion of older people and provide a useful comparative vision for the design of accessible support services adapted to the needs of its users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While social support—friends, family, and colleagues—is one of the main sources of encouragement and digital literacy for older people, there is evidence that suggests that they may prefer formal sources of support. This study aims to verify the capacity of technological support services to promote literacy and Internet use by older people in multiple contexts. The participants (N = 560) were retired adults (over 54) residing in Spain and habitual users of technological support services in four organizational contexts (nursing homes, community senior centers, university programs for seniors, and adult education programs). The results show the moderating role of organizational contexts on the capacity of formal technological supports to determine the use and appropriation of the Internet by older people. Finally, the findings are discussed in terms of their usefulness for initiatives that adapt to the needs of the users of these services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new microfluidic device to enhance the enrichment factor in miniaturized systems is proposed. The microfluidic system was design for liquid phase microextractions, and it was applied to the simultaneous extraction of acidic compounds of a wide range of polarity (0.5 < log P < 3). The device operated under stagnant acceptor phase conditions and all the operational parameters involved were optimized. Tributyl phosphate was found to be a new highly efficient supported liquid membrane to simultaneously extract analytes of very different polarities. The optimal donor and acceptor phase were pH 2 and pH 13, respectively. The donor flow rate and the extraction time were investigated simultaneously, offering great versatility with high enrichment factors (EFs). Limits of quantitation were within 0.02 and 0.09 µg mL−1 for all compounds at 10 µL min−1 as donor flow rate and 20-min extractions, offering EFs between 11 and 18 with only 200-µL sample volume consumption. The method was successfully applied to human urine samples, observing recoveries between 47 and 90% for all compounds. This new proposed microfluidic system increases the wide range of applications, especially when the analytes are present in lower concentrations in the sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The purpose of this article was to ascertain the existing literature and find the gaps in economic evaluations of cataracts. Methods: Systematic methods were used to search and collect the published literature on economic evaluations of cataracts. A mapping review of studies published in the following bibliographical databases was performed: the National Library of Medicine (PubMed), EMBASE, Web of Science (WOS), and the Central of Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) database. A descriptive analysis was conducted and relevant studies were classified into different groups. Results: Among 984 studies screened, 56 studies were included in the mapping review. Four research questions were answered. There has been a progressive increase of publications during the last decade. The majority of the included studies were published by authors from institutions in the USA and UK. The most commonly investigated area was cataract surgery followed by intraocular lenses (IOLs). The studies were classified into different categories according to the main outcome evaluated, such as comparisons between different surgical techniques, costs of the cataract surgery, second eye cataract surgery costs, quality of life gain after cataract surgery, waiting time of cataract surgery and costs, and cataract evaluation, follow-up, and costs. In the IOL classification, the most frequently studied area was the comparison between monofocal and multifocal IOLs, followed by the comparison between toric and monofocal IOLs. Conclusions: Cataract surgery is a cost-effective procedure compared with other non-ophthalmic and ophthalmic interventions and surgery waiting time is an important factor to consider because vision loss has a huge and broad-ranging impact on society. Numerous gaps and inconsistencies are found among the studies included. For this reason, there is a need for further studies according to the classification described in the mapping review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents an original 3D code in FreeFem++ to recreate the behavior of anaerobic microorganisms in non-stirred anaerobic reactors with an intermittent feed. The physical and biochemical phenomena have been considered using a mathematical model based on a set of partial differential equations: Stokes, advection–diffusion, and diffusion–reaction. The description of the anaerobic metabolism was carried out by implementing the structured AMD1 model. The Galerkin finite element method has been used to solve the partial differential equations defined in the model. Finally, the methodology and procedures are presented by means of a concrete example. Thanks to the inclusion of this e-learning tool for use in virtual laboratories, it is possible to improve the understanding of engineering students on the functioning of the metabolism that takes place inside non-stirred anaerobic reactors that are fed discontinuously. This proposal reinforces to students, in a transversal way, both environmental sensitivity and awareness of the circular economy focused on the implementation of natural wastewater treatment systems in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This manuscript presents the advances of a pilot testing, located in Spain, using ultrafiltration (UF) membranes to supply drinking water. These results could be extended to the islands of the Macaronesia area, for instance, Azores, Madeira, Canaries, and Cape Verde. The UF project targeted by the pilot activity is a refurbishment of an existing installation. The existing installation is located at a higher altitude, thus drinking water could be supplied to most of the island without further pumping, reducing the carbon footprint, ecological footprint, and energy consumption. The raw water is soft surface water (mainly of rainwater origin) coming from a dam. On the islands of Macaronesia, water is a scarce resource in high demand. Therefore, this is a technically and economically viable business opportunity with a promising future for isolated water treatment systems to produce drinking water on islands. The Macaronesia area is formed by volcanic islands with a small surface in the Atlantic Ocean, so usually there is not enough space for conventional technology and only a compact UF can be used. The raw water quality is not satisfactory and the municipality receives many complaints from end users, thus a potable water plant with UF membranes is in high demand to supply drinking water of good quality. Membrane processes can be categorized into various, related methods, three of which include the following: pore size, molecular weight cut-off, and operating pressure. Regarding the obtained results, the UF system successfully produced excellent filtrate quality with turbidity readings on average less than 0.03 NTU; furthermore, membrane instantaneous flux of 90 Lmh at 14 °C is achievable with long-term stability under various feed water conditions, peak operations are available at 105 Lmh without a large impact on the filtration performance of the modules, and CIP is only to be performed if the TMP increase reaches the terminal point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Living well is as important as living longer. The objective of this study is to assess quality of life (QoL) in congenital heart disease (CHD) according to current AHA/ACC anatomical and physiological classifi- cation. Methods: Cross-sectional study examining the World Health Organization QoL Bref questionnaire (WHOQoL-Bref) in consecutive outpatient CHD patients from a single unit. Results: 191 CHD patients were studied. Median age was 28 ± 13 years and 59% were male. 44 (23%), 115 (60%) and 33 (17%) CHD patients showed mild, moderate and great anatomical defects respectively while 69 (36%) patients were in physiological Stage A, 27 (14%) in Stage B, 84 (44%) in Stage C and 11 (6%) in Stage D. No significant differences were seen in relation the anatomical classification and the different sections of the WHOQoL-Bref questionnaire. CHD patients in Stages C and D had significant lower physical domain scores than patients in the Stage A (p < 0.05). However, no significant differences were seen in the psychological, social relationships and environmental domains. The binary logistic regression analysis showed that having a higher educational level was a protective factor [OR 0.32 (95% CI, 0.12-0.87), p = 0.026] while being married or cohabit was a risk factor [OR 3.46 (95% CI, 1.13-10.63), p = 0.030] for having a worse rated QoL. Meanwhile, having a worse functional class (NYHA ≥2) [OR 3.44 (95% CI, 1.20-9.81), p = 0.021] was associated with dissatisfaction with health. Conclusion: Patients with advanced physiological stages scored lower on the physiological domain. No statistical significance was seen, according to the anatomical and physiological classification, in the psychological, social relationship and environmental domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In scientific literature and industry, semantic and context-aware Natural Language Processing-based solutions have been gaining importance in recent years. The possibilities and performance shown by these models when dealing with complex Human Language Understanding tasks are unquestionable, from conversational agents to the fight against disinformation in social networks. In addition, considerable attention is also being paid to developing multilingual models to tackle the language bottleneck. An increase in size has accompanied the growing need to provide more complex models implementing all these features without being conservative in the number of dimensions required. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive account of the impact of a wide variety of dimensional reduction techniques on the performance of different state-of-the-art multilingual siamese transformers, including unsupervised dimensional reduction techniques such as linear and nonlinear feature extraction, feature selection, and manifold techniques. In order to evaluate the effects of these techniques, we considered the multilingual extended version of Semantic Textual Similarity Benchmark (mSTSb) and two different baseline approaches, one using the embeddings from the pre-trained version of five models and another using their fine-tuned STS version. The results evidence that it is possible to achieve an average reduction of 91.58 % ± 2.59 % in the number of dimensions of embeddings from pre-trained models requiring a fitting time 96.68 % ± 0.68 % faster than the fine-tuning process. Besides, we achieve 54.65 % ± 32.20 % dimensionality reduction in embeddings from fine-tuned models. The results of this study will significantly contribute to the understanding of how different tuning approaches affect performance on semantic-aware tasks and how dimensional reduction techniques deal with the high-dimensional embeddings computed for the STS task and their potential for other highly demanding NLP tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Bordón: Journal of Education / Revista de Pedagogía is the property of Sociedad Espanola de Pedagogia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2) infection in dogs is associated with severe gastroenteritis, bloody diarrhea, and vomiting, resulting in high rates of death, especially in unvaccinated puppies within the first months of age. There are three variants, called CPV-2a, CPV-2b, and CPV-2c, co-circulating worldwide. Our group previously reported that the only circulating CPV-2 variant in the Guadalajara metropolitan area in western Mexico was type 2c. Now, a five-year study was performed in order to investigate the possible dominance of CPV-2c in our region. Rectal swabs were collected from 146 dogs with clinical gastroenteritis from May 2014 to August 2019 at the Veterinary Hospital of the University of Guadalajara. Of these, 90 dogs tested positive for canine parvovirus by PCR. Most of the infected dogs with CPV-2 had a partial or incomplete vaccination status (n = 88, 97.8%). Approximately 65% (n = 59) of them were mixed-breed dogs, 77.8% (n = 70) were under 6 months of age, and 37.8% (n = 34) of them died from clinical complications. RFLP analysis of amplicons derived from the vp2 gene showed that all 90 DNA samples corresponded to CPV-2c, with no evidence of the presence of CPV-2a or CPV-2b variants. Twenty-nine of the 90 DNA samples were selected for amplification of a portion of the vp2 gene, and sequencing of these amplicons showed that all of them had the sequence GAA at codon 426, encoding the amino acid glutamic acid, which is characteristic of CPV-2c. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the CPV-2c sequences were related to those of viruses from Europe and South America. The present study indicates that CPV-2c is still the only variant circulating in the dog population of the Guadalajara metropolitan area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the perspective of Darwinian hydrology, Budyko hypotheses can be the foundation of approaches for developing models. Numerous Budyko-type models meeting established boundary conditions (water and energy limits) have been developed based on the Budyko hypothesis on the long-term-average annual mass and energy balance. Some of these models are grounded on empirical bases, while others have been formulated on sophisticated mathematical developments. We analyze the basic hypotheses underlying some Budyko-type models; we first describe some published models and then examine their underlying hypotheses in a hydrologically intuitive space (precipitation versus runoff). The analyses show that the models studied are a consequence of assuming that two parallel straight lines (of unit slope) of different intercepts are indeed equal (proportionality hypothesis). This hypothesis gives rise to different Budyko-type models that, although mathematically correct and meeting the limits (partially) related to the Budyko hypotheses, do not yield any information about what happens between those limits. To overcome the extreme energy limit, an expolinear model is introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of water safety plans (WSPs) has been recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) since 2004 as a highly effective means of improving water safety management. Experience with the implementation of WSPs is increasing worldwide, but there is no unified or standardized methodology for how the verification of a WSP should be conducted. In this article, we present a thorough evaluation of a specific WSP five years after its initial implementation. We reviewed the risk assessment methodology used by a water utility in Salta, Argentina, and assessed the implementation of control measures. To objectively evaluate the effectiveness of the WSP, we evaluated water quality parameters and customer complaints using a time-series analysis. We show that although some control measures were implemented, and a reduction in risk values was observed, it was not possible to improve long-standing problems in the water supply of the city of Salta, such as the number of consumer complaints or high turbidity levels in the water during the rainy season. We discuss the role of rigorous scientific assessments and the importance of legislation and regulatory bodies in implementing the WSP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Beginning in March 2021, Mexico vaccinated childcare workers with a single-dose CanSino Biologics (Adv5-nCoV) coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine. Although CanSino is currently approved for use in 10 Latin American, Asian, and European countries, little information is available about its vaccine effectiveness (VE). Methods We evaluated CanSino VE within a childcare worker cohort that included 1408 childcare facilities. Participants were followed during March–December 2021 and tested through severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction or rapid antigen test if they developed any symptom compatible with COVID-19. Vaccination status was obtained through worker registries. VE was calculated as 100% × (1 − hazard ratio for SARS-CoV-2 infection in fully vaccinated vs unvaccinated participants), using an Andersen-Gill model adjusted for age, sex, state, and local viral circulation. Results The cohort included 43 925 persons who were mostly (96%) female with a median age of 32 years; 37 646 (86%) were vaccinated with CanSino. During March–December 2021, 2250 (5%) participants had laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, of whom 25 were hospitalized and 6 died. Adjusted VE was 20% (95% confidence interval [CI], 10%–29%) against illness, 76% (95% CI, 42%–90%) against hospitalization, and 94% (95% CI, 66%–99%) against death. VE against illness declined from 48% (95% CI, 33%–61%) after 14–60 days following full vaccination to 20% (95% CI, 9%–31%) after 61–120 days. Conclusions CanSino vaccine was effective at preventing COVID-19 illness and highly effective at preventing hospitalization and death. It will be useful to further evaluate duration of protection and assess the value of booster doses to prevent COVID-19 and severe outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In this study, the main elements that can make up a Natural Treatment System for Wastewater (NTSW), its most important parameters and properties of operation and design, have been analyzed, as well as the environmental problems derived from the generation of large amounts of slurry. The objective of this paper is to propose a methodology to improve the operation of these systems, associated with small and medium-sized livestock farms, in insular and isolated systems such as the Canary Islands. An Integrated and Resilient System (IRS) for monitoring and measuring operational variables quasi-continuous and in situ is proposed. Low-cost technology and open source hardware are employed, as well as application of the IoT (Internet of Things) strategies to share and analyze the information collected in the cloud. In view of the high degree of resilience and the simplicity of this type of technology, as well as its low cost, it is concluded that it is feasible to create a measurement system with these characteristics that can be used for NTSW parameterization, and other purposes. Satisfactory results were obtained for several parameters (ambient temperature, relative humidity, UV radiation, atmospheric pressure). It is presented as a novel proposal based mainly on low-cost technology and free software with which to improve the NTSW operation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Education Sciences & Society is the property of FrancoAngeli srl and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This editorial briefly analyses, describes, and provides a short summary of a set of selected papers published in a special issue focused on deep learning methods and architectures and their application to several domains and research areas. The set of selected and published articles covers several aspects related to two basic aspects in deep learning (DL) methods, efficiency of the models and effectiveness of the architectures These papers revolve around different interesting application domains such as health (e.g. cancer, polyps, melanoma, mental health), wearable technologies solar irradiance, social networks, cloud computing, wind turbines, object detection, music, and electricity, among others. This editorial provides a short description of each published article and a brief analysis of their main contributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In dragonflies, species richness shows a marked variation between lineages. Species diversification in this lineage has been linked with habitat variation, but the role of other factors, such as wing pigmentation, arguably one of the most conspicuous traits in dragonflies, have not yet been explored.In this study, using novel methodology that takes into account state‐dependent speciation, extinction models, and ancestral reconstruction, we investigate the role of wing pigmentation (present/absent) in conjunction with habitat variation (lentic/lotic), to unveil the drivers of species diversification in dragonflies.We found that wing pigmentation is associated with a marginal increase in diversification compared to unpigmented lineages. Inhabiting a lentic habitat is associated with higher diversification rates. When considering both factors in a single model, lentic environments are associated with higher diversification compared to lotic habitats regardless of pigmentation status. In contrast with results across the whole tree, in lotic environments, wing pigmentation is associated with marginally higher diversification rates compared to non‐pigmented species. Ancestral state reconstruction revealed that the last common ancestor of dragonflies was most likely non‐pigmented and lived in lotic habitats.Our study provides evidence that wing pigmentation in conjunction with habitat has an important influence on dragonflies species diversification, with habitat being a better differentiator than wing pigmentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reverse osmosis membranes could be reused in the same or another desalination plant, the useful life of these membranes could be extended reusing them by oxidation of reverse osmosis elements to obtain nanofiltration, ultrafiltration or microfiltration membranes. Recycling is also an opportunity for the obsoleted reverse osmosis membranes. The main categories of recycling by thermal processing commonly used in the industry include incineration and pyrolysis to produce energy, gas and fuel. These processes can be applied to mixed plastic waste, such as the combination of materials used in the manufacture of reverse osmosis membranes. Recycling of reverse osmosis elements from desalination plants is shown to be an opportunity and pioneering initiatives are already underway in Europe. Energy recovery, via incineration, is feasible but is not considered in line with the environmental, social, and political problems it may generate. However, the recycling of reverse osmosis elements via the pyrolytic industry for fuel production can be centralized in a new industry already planned in Macaronesia area and all obsolete osmosis membranes can be sent there. This is a technically and economically viable business opportunity with a promising future in today's recycling market as discussed in the article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Medica del IMSS is the property of Direccion de Prestaciones Medicas - IMSS and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The potential application of renewable energies is diverse, and they have demonstrated their suitability in their application to the size and operation of activities. Rural tourism is one of the products with the greatest potential for growth within the tourist offer of the island of Gran Canaria, as it combines sustainable development and respect for the natural environment. Among the renewable energies with high applicability in rural environments, we highlight photovoltaic solar, low-temperature solar thermal and the methanation of waste and wastewater generated in tourism. This article shows a methodology adapted and developed for the study of the water-energy-waste nexus, considering parameters of waste generation, water and energy consumption, the occupied area and potential renewable energy generation in rural houses in Gran Canaria and evaluates their environmental profitability. It has been concluded that applying these renewable technologies can significantly reduce the carbon and ecological footprint of the activity of rural houses based on the available surface. This contributes to achieving the energy and environmental objectives proposed by the EU to achieve decarbonization by 2050. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last few years, the SORL1 gene has been strongly implicated in the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We performed whole-exome sequencing on 37 patients with early-onset dementia or family history suggestive of autosomal dominant dementia. Data analysis was based on a custom panel that included 46 genes related to AD and dementia. SORL1 variants were present in a high proportion of patients with candidate variants (15%, 3/20). We expand the clinical manifestations associated with the SORL1 gene by reporting detailed clinical and neuroimaging findings of six unrelated patients with AD and SORL1 mutations. We also present for the first time a patient with the homozygous truncating variant c.364C>T (p.R122*) in SORL1, who also had severe cerebral amyloid angiopathy. Furthermore, we report neuropathological findings and immunochemistry assays from one patient with the splicing variant c.4519+5G>A in the SORL1 gene, in which AD was confirmed by neuropathological examination. Our results highlight the heterogeneity of clinical presentation and familial dementia background of SORL1-associated AD and suggest that SORL1 might be contributing to AD development as a risk factor gene rather than as a major autosomal dominant gene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Misinformation has long been a weapon that helps the political, social, and economic interests of different sectors. This became more evident with the transmission of false information in the COVID-19 pandemic, compromising citizens’ health by antivaccine recommendations, the denial of the coronavirus and false remedies. Online social networks are the breeding ground for falsehoods and conspiracy theories. Users can share viral misinformation or publish it on their own. This encourages a double analysis of this issue: the need to capture the deluge of false information as opposed to the real one and the study of users’ patterns to interact with that infodemic. As a response to this, our work combines the use of artificial intelligence and journalism through fact-checked false claims to provide an indepth study of the number of retweets, likes, replies, quotes and repeated texts in posts stating or contradicting misinformation in Twitter. The large sample of tweets was collected and automatically analysed through Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques, not to give all the attention only to the posts with a big impact but to all the messages contributing to the expansion of false information or its rejection regardless of their virality. This analysis revealed that the diffusion of tweets surrounding coronavirus-related misinformation is not only a domain of viral tweets, but also from posts without interactions, which represent most of the sample, and that there are no big differences between misinformation and its contradiction in general, except for the use of replies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species distribution modelling has been widely employed to indicate probable areas of invasion and to guide management strategies. Drosophila nasuta is native to Asia and has invaded Africa, islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans and, more recently, the Americas. This species has been dispersing rapidly in the past decade, dominating the assemblage of drosophilids in numerous invaded territories, especially in protected areas. Here, we model the potential geographic distribution of D. nasuta for the present and two future scenarios. We also determine the environmental variables that most influence its distribution and investigate the risk of invasion in protected areas. Drosophila nasuta has the potential to expand its occurrence, especially on continents that have already been invaded. Variables related to greater rainfall were those that most influenced its distribution. The projections for the two future scenarios revealed a small increase in the distribution of the species compared to the projection for the present. The largest overlaps between the projected areas to be invaded by D. nasuta and territories in protected areas were found for Central and South America. The predictive maps delineated here can assist in the establishment of management plans directed at the conservation of biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Medievalismo is the property of Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Murcia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)